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Suburbia: the familiar and forgotten
From the photographer behind the bestselling Westography.
The sentiment that flows through these images is a balm to the knowledge that time is passing and things will change. William McInnes
Warren Kirk's photos will strike a chord with anyone who's grown up in the Australian suburbs in the past 50 years. Somehow both achingly familiar and unimaginably strange, these luminous images continue his 30-year project of documenting a way of life that is slowly disappearing, along with the people who lived it.
Taken with loving attention and considerable skill, and with the utmost respect for the people and places that appear in them, Kirk's photos of shops and houses, of gardens and lounge-rooms, of people surrounded by the things they love, are beautifully evocative and powerfully nostalgic.
The sentiment that flows through these images is a balm to the knowledge that time is passing and things will change. William McInnes
Warren Kirk's photos will strike a chord with anyone who's grown up in the Australian suburbs in the past 50 years. Somehow both achingly familiar and unimaginably strange, these luminous images continue his 30-year project of documenting a way of life that is slowly disappearing, along with the people who lived it.
Taken with loving attention and considerable skill, and with the utmost respect for the people and places that appear in them, Kirk's photos of shops and houses, of gardens and lounge-rooms, of people surrounded by the things they love, are beautifully evocative and powerfully nostalgic.
- GenresNonfiction
256 pages, Hardcover
Published October 15, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 23, 2019
Poignant, nostalgic. As I studied Warren Kirk's photographs in this book, I was reminded of a Melbourne that I grew up in that is now disappearing thanks to gentrification and hipsterism. This is a beautiful collection that documents the way everyone once lived once upon a time in an era that now only exists in many people's memories.
February 4, 2021
Another beautiful photography book by Warren Kirk, who I was first exposed to from the amazing Northside. Warren captures the essence of a vanishing suburban Melbourne in a way that I think will be so valuable moving forward. Already the gentrification creep is wiping out parts of my suburbs growing up that I never knew I loved until it was gone. This book is a must have for the posterity of memory about a nearly-gone side of Melbourne.
July 17, 2019
This is so perfect it almost aches. People’s own personal ‘castles’ are beautifully photographed with great respect, and the care that has gone into maintaining them is so evident. At the same time, things are old and worn and slightly tired. This seems symbolic of the best of humanity: loved, lived in and presented as best it can be. Loved it.
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December 10, 2018The sentiment that flows through these images is a balm to the knowledge that time is passing and things will change.
William McInnes
It’s a nostalgia-soaked coffee table book ... A time capsule.
Smith Journal
Kirk’s imagery is strikingly evocative, at times achingly nostalgic, and at others unexpected and strange as he moves between ’50s-era kitchens in Ringwood, hair salons in Murrumbeena, elaborate Brunswick backyards and empty grocery stores in Northcote. It’s a beautiful and stoic collection of time-weathered workplaces, cars and faces; a study in forgotten typography; and a chronicle of buildings that gentrification forgot – or just hasn’t discovered yet.
Ellen Fraser, Broadsheet Melbourne
Warren Kirk's photos will strike a chord with anyone who's grown up in the Australian suburbs in the past 50 years … Taken with loving attention and considerable skill, and with the utmost respect for the people and places that appear in them, Kirk's photos of shops and houses, of gardens and lounge-rooms, of people surrounded by the things they love, are evocative and nostalgic.
Australian Photography
In Suburbia, antiquated barbershops and vacant shopfronts rub up against the kitsch and the colourful in a collection that invites the eye to drift through suburbs from all points of the Melbourne compass.
Star Weekly
I was instantly in awe of his ability to distil oft overlooked scenes of our vast city. These vignettes of life in the ‘burbs illicit a distinct sense of nostalgia.
The Design Files
Part archivist, part archaeologist, Kirk is motivated by a desire to bring hidden beauty to the fore and, in doing so, stop it from being lost forever.
ABC
From the dingy Chinese takeaway, the quirkily clipped hedges and formica tables, to the cluttered speciality stores and faded weatherboard, Kirk’s photographs are so vivid you can practically smell the fried food, lawn clippings and motel-room mustiness wafting off the page.
Sally Pryor, The Canberra Times
His new collection of photos, Suburbia, is affectionate but precise, and documents a community in evolution. The sentiment that flows through his image is a balm to the knowledge that time is passing and things will change. These photos are luminous and incandescent, like a light bulb burning brightest just before the element goes.
William McInnes, Assemble Papers
His new book, Suburbia, is full of quirky finds.
Ross Bilton, Weekend Australia
What she [Kim Walvisch] and Kirk are creating is an archive of how Melbourne once looked. What that picture will look like in another decade or two is anyone’s guess. For Kirk it is about documenting a particular reality but it’s also creating objects of beauty.
Kerrie O’Brien, The Saturday Age
William McInnes
It’s a nostalgia-soaked coffee table book ... A time capsule.
Smith Journal
Kirk’s imagery is strikingly evocative, at times achingly nostalgic, and at others unexpected and strange as he moves between ’50s-era kitchens in Ringwood, hair salons in Murrumbeena, elaborate Brunswick backyards and empty grocery stores in Northcote. It’s a beautiful and stoic collection of time-weathered workplaces, cars and faces; a study in forgotten typography; and a chronicle of buildings that gentrification forgot – or just hasn’t discovered yet.
Ellen Fraser, Broadsheet Melbourne
Warren Kirk's photos will strike a chord with anyone who's grown up in the Australian suburbs in the past 50 years … Taken with loving attention and considerable skill, and with the utmost respect for the people and places that appear in them, Kirk's photos of shops and houses, of gardens and lounge-rooms, of people surrounded by the things they love, are evocative and nostalgic.
Australian Photography
In Suburbia, antiquated barbershops and vacant shopfronts rub up against the kitsch and the colourful in a collection that invites the eye to drift through suburbs from all points of the Melbourne compass.
Star Weekly
I was instantly in awe of his ability to distil oft overlooked scenes of our vast city. These vignettes of life in the ‘burbs illicit a distinct sense of nostalgia.
The Design Files
Part archivist, part archaeologist, Kirk is motivated by a desire to bring hidden beauty to the fore and, in doing so, stop it from being lost forever.
ABC
From the dingy Chinese takeaway, the quirkily clipped hedges and formica tables, to the cluttered speciality stores and faded weatherboard, Kirk’s photographs are so vivid you can practically smell the fried food, lawn clippings and motel-room mustiness wafting off the page.
Sally Pryor, The Canberra Times
His new collection of photos, Suburbia, is affectionate but precise, and documents a community in evolution. The sentiment that flows through his image is a balm to the knowledge that time is passing and things will change. These photos are luminous and incandescent, like a light bulb burning brightest just before the element goes.
William McInnes, Assemble Papers
His new book, Suburbia, is full of quirky finds.
Ross Bilton, Weekend Australia
What she [Kim Walvisch] and Kirk are creating is an archive of how Melbourne once looked. What that picture will look like in another decade or two is anyone’s guess. For Kirk it is about documenting a particular reality but it’s also creating objects of beauty.
Kerrie O’Brien, The Saturday Age
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews